Price effects on the smoking behaviour of adult age groups.
OBJECTIVE
To provide a cigarette price elasticity reference for adult age groups, and to estimate the smoking behaviour changes in US adults in light of unprecedented state excise tax increases on cigarettes during the 1990s.


METHODS
Individual-level data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for 1993-2000 were merged with state-level cigarette price and tax data.


METHODS
Data were analysed for different age groups using a weighted least squares regression framework. The outcome variables measured were whether an individual was a smoker, whether he/she had tried to quit smoking during the previous year, and how many cigarettes were smoked per day among the total population and among active smokers.


RESULTS
This study confirmed previous results that younger individuals are more responsive to price changes than older individuals. Although older age groups are less sensitive to price changes, their smoking behaviour changes are still statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
This study found that while older individuals are less responsive to price changes than younger individuals, their behavioural changes due to cigarette price increases should not be ignored.
Franz
G A
GA
Department of Economics, 3151 Social Science Plaza, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-5100, USA. gfranz@uci.edu
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003132:Commerce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012907:Smoking / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D040241:Social Marketing; D013660:Taxes / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology